Communication & Public Speaking

Communication is the delivery of a message from one living creature to another or group of living creatures (thoughts, ideas, etc.) using a variety of methods such as writing, speaking, signals or visuals.  Communication requires that there is a deliverer (the person with the message), a message to convey (thought, idea, information) and someone or a group to get and understand the message (from reading, writing or observing).  Firstly, the deliverer must understand themselves the message they wish to communicate with the other person or group and effectively encode the message in a chosen method.  Secondly, the message is passed from the deliverer to the person or group through a language or symbols.  Lastly, the person or group receives the message and either understands it or translates it into a form that they can understand. 

There are three types of communication: verbal, non-verbal and oral.

Verbal communication is primarily spoken by a deliverer to a person or group of people.  This requires the use of a constructed language and uses words.

Non-verbal communication is the process of delivering a message to a person or group of people without using words.  The primary forms of non-verbal communication is eye gestures, body language, facial expressions, posture or object communication (clothing, hair, etc.).  This type is based on conveying emotion.

Oral communication is a combination of verbal and non-verbal communication.  It describes the process of conveying a message using language and words but with the aid of a non-verbal form of communication, such as a picture or visual presentation. 

There are a variety of barriers to communication that can prevent the deliverer from correctly conveying the message they encoded.  These barriers include physical barriers (the inability of the person or group that the deliverer is addressing to hear or see them), linguistic ability (the use of jargon that the person or group may not understand) or vague sentences (a composition of words that may not necessarily make sense to the person or group).

Public speaking is a method of communication.  It involves a speaker verbally or orally giving a lecture to a group of people in order to inform or influence the group on a topic.  The format of a public speech is usually very formal, as there is typically one speaker and a much larger group of listeners.  The topics featured in public speeches are usually formal as well.  A good public speaker can effectively tell the story or inform or entertain the audience by invoking emotion and keeping them focused for the duration of their speech.